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Sunday, April 24, 2011

LOFT - The Forwards, Could we really pay too much for Brad Richards?

Continuing a thread we have been following, we are evaluating available free agent talent that could really help the CBJ in the off season. We are following up on a talent evaluation system, originated over on Light the Lamp and discussed in this previous post here on Dark Blue Jacket, that is affectionately called the LOFT Tiers (Lack of Flippin' Talent).

Working off of the Tiering system suggested in our previous post, the following are the available free agent forwards who would have an impact on the cumulative Columbus Blue Jacket LOFT Tiers:

Conclusion for the forwards:
The lustful thought of Brad Richards lining up at Center alongside Rick Nash causes one to salivate. But I think I would submit that you could afford to drop big dollars on either Erik Cole OR Brad Richards. Cole is listed as playing the Right Wing (though he is listed as a left shot), and the bookends of Nash and Erik Cole would take a lot of pressure off of any center. Cole is 26 years old, Richards is 30. Errata - Cole is 32 years old. Given that you would certainly want to reconsider the next statement) You could certainly go with a 4 year contract for Nash money for Cole (Nash scored 32 goals this year). That might be a little riskier for Richards, but if its high risk, the potential rewards could be huge.

I couldn't see even trying to make an offer to the Finnish Flash. He ain't coming here, and we're not going to offer him that kind of money.

Mike Knuble's age (38) would make him pretty high risk playing day to day in the rugged West. If you could get him for a 2 year contract at decent money maybe he'd be worth a taking a chance at, maybe. Given his age, its a good bet Howson will have a man crush on him.

For Glencross and Tanguay, we are up to our necks in left wings. I doubt Glencross would ever come here. Its a shame we lost that player on an acknowledged bad trade. At the time he did really want to be in Western Canada, not Ohio.

That leaves Scottie Upshall. Scottie had a career year this year. I really doubt he repeats those numbers. But he was a good player, and if we could get a decent deal he'd be worth signing. The fact that he clicks with Umberger is something worth paying for. I think that having him all through training camp would lead to a bigger impact from his personality.

At the end of the day, it really looks like, from the forward perspective, that trying to sign Brad Richards would really be worth it. C'mon Howson! Find a way to get this done! Ship that number 8 draft pick to Dallas for the rights to Richards, and get 'er done before the deadline.

8 comments:

Erik Cole is 32 years old - his number is 26. I'm not so sure I'd want someone of his age and his (relative) inconsistency.

Purely for relative payment, I'm going to send you to this article about centers (written by one of the Pension Plan Puppets readers): http://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/2011/4/18/2119020/center-of-attention-the-art-of-the-trade

Of course, I personally wouldn't mind more of a Clarkson (NCAA) presence on the team (Clitsome, Clark, Cole). It's just that with Cole, his best years seem to come when with Eric Staal. Maybe Nash would bring more out of him, but that's hard to gauge.

Matt -Yeah, I had seen that article, and its a good one. One point I'd make is that we have simply been looking at free agents. A costly and unproven method for improving your team. Richards at least pans out as above the line in their analysis.

Brass doesn't show up too badly in that article. Its a good read for sure.

Hey DBJ, I was looking at Team Canada's heavy CBJ influence and I came across a highlight reel of Rick Nash. I'm a relatively "new" CBJ fan, but I was wondering if you thought Nash's game has changed at all? I concede that these were "highlight" goals but he seemed to be doing things a lot more "explosively" than anything I'd seen (save undressing Lundqvist) this past season.

Cody-Ray -I can see why you might say that. I hadn't thought of Nash that way, but I get your point. In some ways he is much more deliberate than he used to be. IMHO that is because he is typically going 1 on 2, or 1 on 3, so he gathers himself for the strength move he knows he is going to need. I think if he had another bona fide threat on his line to take some of the attention away, he might see enough space on the ice to make a more explosive move like that. Right now, everyone opts to stop Nash and let the rest of the CBJ try to beat them. It doesn't always work, but I bet its one of those approaches that pays off over the long run for other teams.

Nash has been used differently by different coaches. His "explosiveness" (is that a word?) does depend, as Nash said, on the fact that he's often double or triple-teamed. Kinda hard to be explosive when you're getting mugged.

I'm not sure he's on the decline...probably more frustrated that he's not getting help to deflect some of this personalized treatment.

Yeah, I was on my way back to take rethink the last part of my comment about Nash being on the decline. I'm sure he is executing a more rounded game than he was when he was driving it to the net and making a name for himself. Thanks for the reply though